News

Total of 906 candidates to contest council elections

TOTAL of 906 candidates will stand in the forthcoming local government elections in three weeks' time.

In all, 462 seats will be contested across the north's 11 enlarged council districts.

The vote will take place on Thursday May 22, the same day as 10 candidates will contest the European elections.

As expected, the DUP and Sinn Fein will field the most candidates in the local government elections with both parties putting forward nearly 200 potential councillors each.

The SDLP has 119 candidates, while the Ulster Unionists have 117 and Alliance 82. Jim Allister's TUV have nominated 50 candidates and NI21, which is contesting its maiden election, 47.

The results of the local government election will be announced on Friday May 23 and Saturday May 24. It is hoped the result of the European poll will be announced the following Monday.

The candidates contesting the European elections are: Jim Allister of TUV; Martina Anderson of Sinn Fein; Alex Attwood of the SDLP; Mark Brotherston of the Conservative Party; Ross Brown of the Green Party NI; Diane Dodds of the DUP; Anna Lo of the Alliance Party; Tina McKenzie of NI21; Jim Nicholson of the UUP, and Henry Reilly of UKIP.

Some of the Euro candidates gathered at the University of Ulster's Belfast campus for a hustings debate organised by the Northern Ireland

Government Affairs Group. The event was attended by the editors of Belfast's three daily papers - Noel Doran of The Irish News, Mike Gilson from the Belfast Telegraph and the News Letter's Rankin Armstrong.